How do I dry carpet after radiator leak?

[lemniscate]

We had a big leak yesterday from radiator which is now fixed. I have an area about 1 foot square which is sodden. What is the best way to dry it? I'm happy to pay someone (who?) to come in if this is the best option. Carpet is only 1 year old and covers a massive area (walk through lounge and dining room) so can't afford to replace it. Thanks!

what about a carpet cleaner? like that rug doctor. only instead of first wetting the carpet, go right to the suction.

Put the heating on?

Just squidging a series of towels onto it to soak up the water will work. As it's only 1ft square I wouldn't faff about with anything complicated. If its wool it will smell like wet dog though.

Lots and lots of dabbing with towels, nappies (cheap ones or old too small ones) work an absolute treat! Then a blast with the hair dryer?

So I'm abut rubbish at this estimation thing Just measured it properly and it's about 2.5ft square so a fair bitbigger than my woeful estimate. Does that make any difference to what I should do? Currently on hands and knees blotting up water with towel. Fun day ahead for me

TBH, no. DS1 once washed his carpet with some friends Lots of dabbing with towels, heating on, wet dog smell... it dried out fine. Maybe open a window to let the condensation out.

Is it fairly near a corner? If so you could probably lift the carpet and prop it up so air can circulate and dry it. If you can raise it then a fan heater would speed the process.

If it is in a corner and you can pull it up, it would be worth putting a dry towel or layers of kitchen paper underneath, then standing on it a bit to squeeze water into towels/ paper. You might also be able to put newspaper underneath as it won't be so much of a problem if the newsprint comes off a bit on the underside of the carpet!! If you are happy to do this, put down layers of newspaper, put the carpet back down and stand on it. Leave awhile for paper to soak up water, remove and replace with dry paper. Repeat till no more water absorbed.

Come to think of it, even if you can't/don't want to pull up carpet you could still use newspaper as follows:

Lay down old towel/sheet or something to stop newsprint getting on carpet. Put layers of newspaper over this. Jump up and down on the area so water is squeezed into newspaper. Replace with dry newspaper and repeat.

Then open window a bit - just for a short while to lower air humidity. Then put heating on for a bit!!

certainly pull up the wet part if at all possible. The underlay will also be wet, probably over a larger area than you can see on the carpet, and you need to get it all dry as fast as you can to prevent rot. The floorboards may also be wet. If it is chipboard flooring it will swell and lose most of its strength.

If you can lay your hands on a wet-and-dry vac or a carpet shampooer, do, as it will suck (some of) the water out. The carpet might shrink and need to be re-stretched to lay it again.

Unless the heating system is very new and/or has been chemically cleaned and treated with inhibitor, the water is likely to be brown or black with iron oxide. This leaves a stain which is impossible to remove, so you may end up making an insurance claim. Sorry.